Shan's hand went between Harper's thighs. He knew that she was very sore, and he did his best to be gentle as he cleaned her. Despite his best efforts, her grip tightened on his forearm and she let out a hissing breath.

He wiped away the slippery fluids from their mating, dispersing them into the river water. They wouldn't be mating again, not until she rested and healed up, at least. 

As he worked, he absently kissed at her neck and shoulders. There were a dozen bites on her now, some of which were shallow enough to heal, but most of which would be permanent. He'd bitten her too much. He knew that now that the haze was lifting. She had never complained, and even seemed to enjoy it, but she would be angry with him later. Even knowing this, he didn't regret the marks. It felt barbaric, wanting to scar her with his bite, but he already wanted to do it again. 

In all the times they'd mated over the past few days, Harper had only managed to bite him twice, both times in the same place as her original bite. She might have bitten him more, had she been in a position to do so. He'd had little interest in taking her for any position other than from behind. It afforded him the most control, and he could alternate between using his hips to thrust and using his arms to pull her hips against his, depending on which part of him was most fatigued from their near-constant mating.

He held her close as he carried her to shore, doing his best to shield her from the cold. He grabbed their pelts and wrapped both of them around her before carrying her back to their makeshift den.

In an alcove beneath a rock outcropping was their campfire. Shan kicked a log onto it before laying Harper down. He laid down next to her, propping his head up on his hand.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. 

She shook her head tiredly. "Uh uh."

She was paler than usual and there were dark circles beneath her eyes, but Shan tried not to be overly concerned. He was sure that he looked every bit as haggard as she did.

"I'm going to go hunt for you," he said, reaching for his pelt.

Harper's hand shot up to grab his wrist.

"No," she said, pouting. "Stay with me."

Shan sighed and took his pelt, but used it to cover himself.

"Later, then," he said. "You have to eat something."

"I ate earlier," she protested.

"You haven't eaten since yesterday."

"Technically, it was breakfast. We're nocturnal now, remember?"

Her appetite, like his own, had been shit since the thrall had begun. He'd managed to get her to eat some fish when she'd woken, but that had been hours ago. 

It felt like a lifetime since they'd shifted and departed from his den. They'd spent the entire first day and evening in wolf form, mating nonstop. They'd woken the following night, and had since followed a nocturnal schedule. It worked out well, as the temperature had taken a nosedive over the past week, and they would have been freezing at night, had they not been feverishly mating. 

He still wished he'd planned things better, but ultimately it had worked out. The spot they'd settled in was an hour out from his den. It was near to water, sheltered from the wind, and remote enough that they hadn't been disturbed. He rather liked it, and already had plans to have a cabin built there for the next time they would need it.

Harper was playing with his hand. She'd turned it around so that his palm was facing the sky. She traced the lines on his palm, and then pressed her own flat against his. Shan watched, quietly marveling in the stark differences in size and complexion. After a moment, he curled his fingers around her hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing her soft skin.

"I love you," she said. "But don't say it back."

He hadn't needed her to tell him that she loved him. He'd known it, as surely as he known his own feelings for her. But hearing the words still made his chest constrict.

"That doesn't seem fair," he said, his lips curving in amusement.

"If you say it now, it'll feel like you're just saying it because I said it. You have to wait."

"You're assuming I would say it," he teased.

He hadn't expected her to take him seriously, and at the sight of her stricken expression, he had to quickly backpedal. 

"It was a joke." 

He gave her another kiss, this one on her lips. He snaked his arms around her, pulling her close and continuing to kiss her until all of the tension had fled her body.

"It wasn't as bad today," she said some time later. "I didn't feel like I'd go crazy without having you inside of me. I also didn't feel like I wanted to shift. My wolf hasn't made a peep all night."

She was laying with her head on his arm, her favorite position, and looking at him expectantly.

"It's ending," he confirmed.

Though he'd never experienced the mating thrall before, he'd recognized the change when they'd woken that evening. Aside from the frenzy abating, he'd also been clearheaded for the first time in days. Even just the day before, holding a conversation would have been next to impossible. They'd already spoken more in the past hour than they had since they'd left the den.

"Do I smell different?" she asked.

"Curb your expectations. It's only been a few days."

Harper pursed her lips. "It's been like, a whole week."

"Six and a half days," he corrected.

"That's long enough, isn't it?"

"Apparently, so."

He suppressed a smile as he waited for her to understand what he was saying. When realization finally dawned on her, her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp.

"Oh my God," she said, her other hand going to her abdomen. "Oh my God. Is this another joke? Are you messing with me?"

He put a hand on her belly, lacing his fingers with hers. "I'm serious."

Shan had only just noticed the subtle change as he'd been carrying her to the river, though thinking back now, it had been present all evening, he just hadn't picked up on it. He'd been debating on how to tell her, or if he should tell her at all. Part of him had enjoyed the private moments when only he had known about their pup.

"Wow." Harper looked wide awake now. "You're sure?"

Shan nodded, slipping his hand beneath hers so that he could rub her bare belly.

"How does this work?" she asked. "I mean, we had a lot of sex in our wolf forms. What if I'm pregnant with a giant puppy?"

Shan frowned. "I'm not sure. If it seems like the pup is growing too fast, you could always spend your pregnancy in your wolf form."

"Are you kidding?" she huffed. "Nine months in my wolf form?"

"I doubt it will come to that." He touched his forehead to hers. "I'm sure that everything will be fine."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

Shan wasn't merely trying to placate her. He felt confident that no matter what happened, they would make it through the pregnancy safely and with a healthy pup. They had beaten astronomical odds to find one another, and he believed that whatever divine force had drawn them together had also meant for them to create this pup.

Harper turned onto her side and cuddled close to Shan. 

"We made a baby," she whispered. 

He kissed the top of her head. "We did."

"It doesn't seem real."

"It probably won't, not for a few months, anyway. Right now, all you need to focus on is settling into the pack."

"I want to go to Halcyon."

Shan tensed. "When?"

"As soon as we can." She peeked up at him through her lashes. "I don't want my father to hear that I'm your mate from someone else. I should be the one to tell him."

Shan sighed. "Halcyon is a week from here, and that's without stopping. Realistically, it would take us two weeks to get there. Between that and the two weeks to get back, we'd be away from the pack for a month."

"You don't have to take me. I could go by myself." Before Shan could issue a vehement response, Harper winced and said, "Scratch that. I know that was a dumb thing to say."

He relaxed, marginally.

"I'd also like to see Sarah and Cain. It'd be a little out of the way, but I've missed them so much and it wouldn't be right to see Alder without visiting them, too."

He hesitated, before saying, "Sarah and Cain are at Halcyon, now. They moved to the valley a few years ago."

Her eyes lit up with excitement. "That's perfect! We can see them all at once. And on the way, maybe we could go to Lazarus and see Caim, too."

"Not a fucking chance." It wasn't his intention to respond so harshly, and he immediately sought to soften the statement to something more tactful. "We've yet to do anything to foster diplomacy between our packs. For all intents and purposes, they're still our enemies." He had to speak over her protests as he continued, "The fact that the alpha is your brother will impact our negotiations, but there will still need to be many talks before our packs are on good terms."

"And I can help with that," she said, pressing her hand to his chest. "Let me talk to Caim and I can sort everything out."

Not a fucking chance.

"We'll talk about this later," he said, stroking her hair. "For now, we'll return to The Steppes. Give me the winter to get our pack in order. In the spring, if everything is going well with your pregnancy, I'll bring you to Halcyon. Fair?"

She nodded, seeming pleased by the compromise. Inwardly, Shan was already thinking of excuses he could make come springtime. Right now, it felt difficult to deny her anything, but he knew that the winter would go by quickly and he'd soon find himself stuck with either having to go back on his word, or taking his pregnant mate across four territories to visit her family. He worried not only about the physical toll, but also the emotional toll it would take on her when she found that her homecoming would not give her the closure she was hoping for.

It wasn't long after they'd stopped talking that Harper fell asleep. Shan was fatigued, but found himself still wide awake as the sun began to rise. He was thinking back to the night when he'd known that Harper would be his mate, and to his wish that he could fold time between that moment and now, when he found out that she was carrying his pup. 

Now, he wished he could fold it again to the time when she was safely through her pregnancy and he was holding his newborn pup in his arms. 

It wouldn't end, he realized. Though he'd never been particularly impatient, he had spent a great deal of his life dreaming of the next milestone. He had achieved so much, but with each accomplishment, he only ever set his sights further into the future. 

It was a miserable way to live.

In that moment, he decided that he would be content with what he had. In his arms and wrapped in her snow-white pelt was his mate, carrying his unborn child. Laying beneath the dawn-streaked sky, Shan held them close, his mind not lingering in the past or skipping ahead to the future, but focused entirely on the present.